


The Mythical Creatures AU

by Lukutoukka



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Dex is a little unobservant sometimes, Fluff, M/M, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 06:33:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17482970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lukutoukka/pseuds/Lukutoukka
Summary: So uh.This was supposed to be a one shot, but I don't think it's finished yet. I did want to post something today though, so uh. Take this first part, if you will.Big thanks to Drask, Ari and Denois for their comments, especially Den – lots of the right questions, merci <3





	The Mythical Creatures AU

**Author's Note:**

> So uh.  
> This was supposed to be a one shot, but I don't think it's finished yet. I did want to post something today though, so uh. Take this first part, if you will.  
> Big thanks to Drask, Ari and Denois for their comments, especially Den – lots of the right questions, merci <3

Dex’s whole body is aching. He doesn’t think there’s a spot in his body that doesn’t ache. 

Of course, he’s a hockey player and an aching body isn’t anything new, hasn’t been since college, but it’s worse today than ever, worse than it should be. Regular season is almost over, they’re on their last stretch of away games and Dex hasn’t so much as set foot on the beach for maybe a month, let alone been for a swim. Combining all that with the fact that they played a really tough game last night, he’s not doing great. At least last night’s game gives the mundane players on the team an explanation for his tiredness. The players in the know though look concerned as he falls down in the chair next to Tater.

He doesn’t like this for several reasons, but the fact that his body is healing worse and worse is really no good at all, hockey-wise. They haven’t secured their playoff spot yet, and the team needs Dex.

But their next game is in L.A. and today is only a travel day and maybe, maybe, he can get away for a bit. The Pacific isn’t a perfect substitute for home, but in the end, all water’s connected and it’s better than nothing.

It’s certainly better than Tater handing him a glass of salt water to drink. Dex pulls a face at Tater but takes the glass anyway. 

“Will help,” Tater says and Dex sighs.

“I know. It’s just - not all that great.” 

Tater bumps his shoulder against Dex’s in quiet commiseration and goes back to his eggs. He knows that Dex needs his quiet time in the morning, especially on days like these.

Dex sighs again and sets his glass aside for now. Sea creature or no sea creature, drinking salt water really isn’t all that great, never mind the fact that it’s probably tap water which Tater mixed with sea salt. Even though Tater manages to do that better than Dex himself, for some reason.

When Dex walked into the dressing room his first day with the Falconers, he’d immediately noticed Tater. It was hard not to, really. The man radiates supernatural energy like a freaking beacon. He’d taken Dex under his wing basically from the moment they’d looked at each other, supernatural being recognizing supernatural being, giving each other that nod of mutual understanding. While getting ready for his first practice, he’d shared a similar kind of greeting with Ransom and Holster – their energy is so neatly interwoven that Dex had thought it to be from one person, not two – as well as Chowder and some others. All in all, maybe a third of the team is 100% supernatural, another third kind of, and the last third is fully mundane, much like the league overall.

Nursey, the second person Dex noticed that first day, falls squarely into that last category. He thinks. Dex actually isn’t certain, but at this point he doesn’t linger on it. Much.

Nursey is also the person who flops into the seat next to Dex now, groaning.

“Too early,” he says and Dex nods in shared misery. He’s usually more of a morning person than Nursey, but today is really a bad day. Which explains why he doesn’t react before Nursey has grabbed his saltwater glass and taken a sip, which he immediately spits out again.

“Someone put salt in your water, bro,” Nursey says and Dex just wants to die. Now he can’t drink that while Nursey is sitting next to him and as much as he’d just like to not do it, he really needs to. Holster gives Dex a concerned look, which he can only answer with a shrug. Yes, normally he should’ve been faster and not let Nursey take the glass. Yes, apparently it’s really bad.

Before Dex can react to Nursey though, Tater does.

“Was me. Sorry Dex, is ill-timed, yes? Should have known better. I bring you new water, okay?” With that he’s gone, much more energy than Dex could muster up even on a good morning. When he returns a little later, he gives the new glass directly to Dex.

“Here, is good water. Should drink before your line partner takes again,” Tater says and Dex obliges, drinking most of it in one go. He has to stop himself from making a face - tap water mixed with salt continues to be disgusting, but he can’t show it to Nursey, who’d just think Tater gave him another tampered with water.

“Thanks, Tater,” he says. “I really appreciate it.”

***

They’ve barely dropped their bags in their hotel in L.A. when Tater drags him out the door again and into a waiting car and barely more than half an hour later, they’re at the beach and Tater pushes him towards the water.

“Go,” he says and Dex goes, as fast as he can. He drops his shoes, jeans, jacket and sweater on his way towards the water, trusting Tater to pick them up. He doesn’t bother with his boxers and undershirt - he doesn’t have the nerves to take them off right now. He’s running by the time he reaches the waterline and he only stops running once the water is deep enough to throw himself forwards to swim. Like a mundane at first, head above the water, but his body is already changing. When he finally deems himself far enough from the shore to dive, his tail is fully developed, he’s got webbing between his fingers and his skin is scaly.

Once he’s fully underwater, he stops swimming and lets himself drift, his body still changing, growing - and at the same time relaxing. Gods, he really needed this and he didn’t even know how badly.

He only stops drifting when somebody nudges him. He twists around, his whole body moving fluidly. Oh, how much he missed this. He nearly freezes when he sees who nudged him - it’s one of the Kings’ players. He’d known that the guy was a sea creature like him when they’d met earlier in the season on the ice - he’d recognized the energy, even on the ice with all its artificialness, during the game. But now he sees the other in his natural element (quite literally) for the first time. It’s also the first time he sees a sea creature like him: Unlike Dex who could possibly pass for human from the waist upwards, he’d retained almost nothing of his human form. Instead, he looks like a flapjack octopus. However, thanks to mass consistency, a rather huge flapjack octopus, thus turning from absolutely adorable into still adorable, but also slightly terrifying. Not that Dex is terrified. Much. He is after all still a sea serpent merperson.

The octopus waves at him with one of his arms and Dex waves back, racking his brain for the guy’s name. He nearly groans out loud when he remembers it - Opisto. For the life of him, he can’t remember his first name, but that last name is like a neon sign, really. He should have connected the dots. Opisto points upwards, towards the surface, and Dex nods then swims towards it. 

He breaches the surface first, the switch from breathing through gills back to breathing air as unsettling as always. He takes a look around, just to be sure, but they’re far away from the shore and the only ships he can see are big tankers, far away. He’s just wondering how long he actually drifted along when Opisto breaches the surface just next to him. He seems to be back to his human form, if the way he moves is any indication (and Dex thinks it is), but his ears are floppy and his eyes are still the same, though Dex thinks that’s because they were more human than octopus earlier. He’s spitting out water and shakes his head, taking a look around the same as Dex, before facing him.

“Fancy meeting you here, Poindexter,” he says, grinning. Dex relaxes a little. He wasn’t quite sure how Opisto would react to meeting a rival (on the ice at the very least) in what is basically his territory. Dex wouldn’t mind much, but then he’d never been very territorial at all.

“Opisto,” he greets. He’s lisping a bit because his teeth are still too pointy, his tongue still slightly forked. “Sorry to intrude.” Not that Opisto seems to mind, but it’s always better to apologize, just in case. Opisto waves his concerns away - as much as one can while swimming.

“No worries at all. Tater and I are friends and he let me know you’d be here. But even if he hadn’t, I wouldn’t have minded. I know what it’s like being away from the sea for too long.” He grins. “How long until you have to be back?”

Dex takes a look at his watch - high end, waterproof, the whole shebang, because he never got the hang of keeping track of time by other means. It’s a little later than he’d like, only two more hours until dinner, which he can’t miss. He sighs.

“I should head back, actually. We got team dinner in about two hours,” he says and Opisto pouts a bit, before lighting up again.

“Race you back to Tater?” he asks and Dex grins back at him. Opisto is an octopus. He’s big, but that doesn’t make him any faster than his non-supernatural brethren.

“Sure,” Dex says, and takes off, not waiting for Opisto’s reaction. He makes good time, but Opisto, it turns out, isn’t above fighting dirty and Dex learns pretty quickly that it’s hard to swim faster than his opponent if said opponent is literally clinging to him.

They’re both laughing when they walk out of the water though and Dex is glad there aren’t any people around - save Dex’s watch, they’re both stark naked and while Opisto looks very human from one second to the next, Dex knows that he’ll keep his pointy teeth and some scales for a little while longer still. Tater, it turns out, isn’t alone anymore, he’s accompanied by Chowder and one of Opisto’s teammates now, who radiates so much fiery energy, Dex can feel it when he’s still 100 feet away, the water still at his waist. Not only that, but his energy is almost as interwoven with Opistso’s as Ransom and Holster’s energies are. It makes for an interesting feeling. Dex gives Opisto an unimpressed look.

Opisto sighs. “Look, I don’t know how it happened, okay? Fucking fire dragon wouldn’t have been my first choice either. But he’s a good guy, if a bit, uh, hot, sometimes.”

Dex snorts and Opisto chuckles. “I know, I know,” he says. “You and Tater, huh? He never mentioned that.”

Dex startles a little. “What?”

Opisto lifts one eyebrow. “You two are together, aren’t you?”

“We, uh,” Dex starts. “No?”

“That a question?”

“I,” Dex starts, but then they’re in hearing range of the others, and Opisto’s boyfriend is handing him a big, fluffy towel and Tater is holding a similar towel out for Dex, and Dex’s clothes are neatly folded on Tater’s bag and –

Dex finds himself unable to do anything else but blink at Tater.

“Dex, you okay?” Tater asks. He looks a little concerned.

“I,” Dex starts. “Yeah, I’m okay.” Opisto is snickering a little. Tater still looks concerned and not at all convinced, but he drops the topic.

Dex and Opisto – “Really, you should call me Paul or Stosy, Dex.” – get dressed and then Dex is introduced to Alex, Stosy’s boyfriend. Alex has piercing blue eyes to go with the unruly dark hair that peeks out from under his cap, and he grins cheekily when he offers Dex his hand. Dex sighs dramatically, but takes the offered hand, which, as expected, is warmer than a regular human’s hand would be and certainly warmer than Dex’s hand. He tends to run cold.

They split up before long though, because Tater, Chowder and Dex need to be back in time for team dinner, and Alex drops a hint about getting Stosy warmed up again that has Dex roll his eyes.

Back at the hotel, Dex manages a quick shower and a text to Chowder ( _ talk to you after dinner? _ ), before he has to head back down for team dinner.

He feels much better after his swim, and he thinks he looks better too, but Tater is still following him around the room with his eyes, looking a little worried. Dex avoids him a little, but Tater doesn’t make any attempts to rope Dex into his conversation either. Dex appreciates that.

After dinner, he sticks close to Chowder’s side, until they’re back in Chowder’s room.

“You’re freaking me out, Dex,” Chowder says as soon as the door is closed behind the two of them. “What the hell happened between you and Opisto?”

“Uh,” Dex says. “Nothing? It’s just, he said something…”

Chowder looks at him expectantly. “Yeah?”

“About me and Tater. And how Tater never told him that we were together?” Dex isn’t quite sure how to put all of his feelings into words, so he doesn’t.

Chwoder is quiet for a minute, waiting if Dex wants to add something, before he prompts: “And that is a problem because?” 

Dex stares at Chowder. “Because Tater and I aren’t together?”

Chowder stares back. “Say what?”

“Tater and I aren’t together?”

“But,” Chowder starts, and then stops himself. Opens his mouth, but closes it again before saying something. Thinks. “Are you… are you sure?”

“I mean… yes?”

“That doesn’t sound very certain, Dex.”

Which is why Dex finds himself in front of Tater’s room a little later. When Tater opens the door, he’s already in sweats and a soft t-shirt, his feet bare on the dark blue rug.

“Do you … have a minute?” Dex asks, a little unsure, and Tater steps aside to let him in with a “For you, always.” and Dex feels… a little stupid. How did he not notice?

“So, uh,” he starts. He’s standing in the middle of Tater’s room and isn’t quite sure where to look. He settles on the abstract monstrosity that might be called art by some that is hanging above the bed. “Opsito made a comment earlier that got me thinking.”

Tater makes an inquiring sound, but is otherwise quiet.

“Are we,” Dex is fiddling with his cuffs. “are we dating? And I didn’t notice?” He manages to look up at Tater, who is bright red and looks a little sheepish.

“I’m... “ Tater coughs. “So, ah… I’m date you, but I maybe not tell you we date?”

Dex stares at him. “But why?”

Tater shrugs and studies his toes.

“You can’t just date me and not tell me,” Dex says. Tater seems to shrink a little. “I can’t date you back if I don’t know you’re dating me, Alexei.”

Tater’s eyes snap up at that, and Dex steps closer towards him. “I just… need you to tell me stuff sometimes, because I’m bad at noticing stuff like that, you know?”

Tater nods and reaches out for Dex’s hand, closes the distance between them. “Want to date me, Will?”

Dex abruptly forgets what words are, so he simply nods and Tater smiles at him, brings up his free hand to cradle Dex’s face, and leans in to bump his nose against Dex’s. “Good,” he says, and then he kisses Dex, deep and intense. There’s a not insignificant amount of tongue involved.

Dex doesn’t make it back to his room before breakfast. 

**Author's Note:**

> Validate my life choices with kudos and comments?


End file.
